Toilet training – Time for Clarity, Not Blame
Why Are So Many Children Starting School Not Toilet Trained? More than a decade ago, I wrote about toilet training after the Association of Teachers and Lecturers reported that 71%…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
Less Screen, More Story: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever
Last week, we were delighted to welcome Helen Hayes MP to the Upper Norwood Library Hub, where I have the privilege of serving as a Trustee. Helen is our local…
A Trip to Ireland to Meet a New Baby
On St Brigid’s Day, I took to the skies courtesy of Aer Lingus (under threat of being sold at the moment, another icon in…
A celebration fit of a Queen… or at least Her Majesty’s representative
On Friday the 23rd of January, a date that will now be forever embedded in my memory, I received my MBE from Her Majesty’s Representative The Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir David Brewer…
Doing Business by Doing Good
Last week was a cold and wet week to head to Manchester but I was warmed by the company of social entrepreneurs from across the UK. We come together as…
Let’s Start the Year Together
When I first submitted this blog to Jenny, she read it and then sidled up to me and said, “I see your point but could you not start the year with…
2014 : Blogging Through the Year (on a one horse open sleigh, o’er the field we go laughing all the way…)
Can we have whizzed through another year? Can you remember it all? I can’t remember the beginning of the week let alone the previous months, although with old age comes…
Creating Social Enterprises
Last week I was awarded the Social Enterprise Women’s Champion Award. I was completely shocked as my nomination was as surprising as the win. The award was…
There is Nothing as Practical as a Good Theory
This week we are hosting the launch of a book written by an ex LEYF staff member Mine Conkbayir and her co-writer Professor Chris Pascal CBE, who has been a…
The Ofsted National Consultative Forum: Read, Rage and Respond
Ofsted held its National Consultative Forum on the 12th of November and I was invited. This was my second meeting and I am there (in my mind anyway) to represent…
What Can We Do to Stop the Childhood Obesity Catastrophe?
Food and unhealthy eating is a regular feature on my blogs because what is happening is really scary. One in five children are obese and apparently 11% of toddlers are…
An Open Letter to the Minister, Sam Gyimah MP
Dear Minister I was sorry to miss your Policy Exchange lecture last week but maybe that was a good thing as it’s often better to read the script in…
Welcome To A Pioneering Qualification for Early Years Chefs
Last week I gave a speech to the Scottish Pre School Play Association in a hotel which was also full of Liberal Democrat delegates who had come…
A Trip to the Home of Democracy to Discuss the Democratisation of Childcare
Last week a colleague and I travelled to Greece to the annual EECERA Conference. I like to attend such conferences because I believe that if we do…